Designing a Heat/Fire-Resistant Safe for Data Protection

[Tom F]

Help. I need help in designing a "safe" that gives me heat and fire protection. I will be using an skins of steel and need help in selecting the core materials. I am trying to protect electronic media so the heat gain inside has to be close to minimal. I am also trying to keep overall wall thickness to 3" or less.

I have looked at a 1/16" steel, 1/2" gysum, 1" of Thermafiber Kfac SR (http://www.thermafiber.com/PDFs/TF668c.pdf ), 1" of foam insulation, 1/2" gypsum and an inner skin of 1/16" steel. This is not so much a safe but a data protection cabinet.

Thanks for your help.

Tom Fischetti
tom@remontllc.com

 

[Michael D. Sewell]

Put it under water, in a sump pump basin, below floor level in your basement.

 

[Tom F]

A comedian, Thanks

 

[Michael D. Sewell]

Tom, I was only trying to help. I don't know a better way to provide thermal protection, other than gypsum or concrete, so my suggestion was to locate your safe in a place where it wouldn't be subjected to the heat in the first place. I'm sorry that you took this as sarcasm, it wasn't meant that way. -Mike

 

[elibol]

what is it you are trying to heatsink?

you should look into microprocessor heatsinks, methods of heatsinking for computer systems are highly advanced in my opinion...

there are also models and completed models of water-based heatsinks, to support Sewell's solution...

check it out->

http://www.a1-electronics.net/Heatsinks/2003/Thermtake_AquII_Jan03.shtml

 

[russ_watters]

I wouldn't trust anything important to a safe you made yourself. Real fire protection safes are rated for time and temperature. And putting it underwater in your basement is not unreasonable - your house could burn to the ground and smolder for days and the safe would survive.

Elibol - swing and a miss.

 

[Integral]

Originally posted by russ_watters
I wouldn't trust anything important to a safe you made yourself. Real fire protection safes are rated for time and temperature. And putting it underwater in your basement is not unreasonable - your house could burn to the ground and smolder for days and the safe would survive.

Elibol - swing and a miss.

My thoughts exactly.

If you are wanting to actually protect something of value, you could not build a safe, that will actually do the job, for less then you could buy a professionally designed and manufactured one off the shelf.

 

[elibol]

uhh, yea i knew that... doh...

:D